Sandman: Overture #2Review

It's been quite a wait for the second issue of Sandman: Overture. The good news is that the wait was worth it, because this issue is considerably better and more focused than the first entry. Things move forward here and the grand scale of the series is coming more into view. The first issue was, at times, a bit self-indulgent, which is a notion this issue seems to reject. It looks forward, instead of backward with winking nods to characters we've already seen in the main Sandman title. Plus, it looks freaking amazing. The art alone makes this comic worth a buy.

Perhaps its the inclusion of some more grounded, human-like characters, but Neil Gaiman story is considerably more in focus now. There is still that poetic dancing in dialogue and scenes, but it reads better and carries a bit more weight in this issue. None of this is to say the first issue was bad in anyway, because it wasn't, but you could almost start with this issue and get a strong sense of what's happening and who the characters are. The cancer bit really ties everything together in a brilliant sort of way. In a Neil Gaiman sort of way.

J.H. Williams III is the star of the this series, no doubt. His gorgeous layouts are unlike anything else being published in mainstream comics, and that's a good thing. There are pages in this issue that are downright nightmare inducing, big, haunting visions of things best left unspoken. As usual, he works primarily in double-page spreads, which look fantastic. However, if you read this digitally (like I did) the scale of the book can be hurt a bit. You can't read this thing panel to panel, you have to take in a whole page, or two pages as it were, at once. Hopefully we don't have to wait so long for the next issue of this series, because art this stunning needs to be on the shelves as often as possible.

Benjamin is campaigning to be the Official Correspondent of Legendary's new Godzilla film. #bailey4godzilla. Follow Benjamin on Twitter @BenHBailey, or find him on IGN.

Great

Sandman: Overture's story is finally becoming clear. Plus, this book is so damn pretty.